Rhinos at Kifaru Reserve

Kifaru Reserve is home to our ‘crash’, or group, of Eastern black rhino.

They’re the heavyweights of the Folly Farm family.

They also tell the strongest conservation story, with fewer than 650 left in the wild.

We’re one of only seven zoos in the UK to care for this critically endangered species. So, it’s also rare to see them in zoos.

We have three black rhinos at Folly Farm – Dakima, Manyara and Nkosi – and you can see them in Kifaru Reserve. ‘Kifaru’ means ‘Rhino’ in Swahili. When designing our black rhino enclosure, we learnt from other leading UK and European zoos. So we know it provides the best conditions for breeding black rhino.

Why do they live alone?

Black rhino are usually solitary animals, which means they like to live alone. So our rhino house has three bedrooms connected to three separate paddocks. However, Dakima and Manyara sometimes live alongside each other as they get on very well. You can walk right around the reserve to get an amazing view of the rhinos charging backwards and forwards, and rolling in the mud. Which they like to do. A lot.

You’ll see a black rhino even when it’s raining, or they’re relaxing indoors as our indoor viewing area looks onto one of our bedrooms. Here you’ll see ‘browse’ (tree branches) hanging from the ceiling for the rhinos to munch. Black rhino have a hooked lip, which they use to pull leaves off branches. Some of the other types of rhino, including white rhino, have straight lips because they graze on grass, much like cows.

You’ll also see tree trunks on the wall. Our rhinos rub their horns on these to keep them healthy. The rest of the house has been designed to give our black rhino, the privacy they need to breed. We hope a baby black rhino, born here at Folly Farm, could be released into the wild.

Rhino horn is not medicine

We’re pleased to be able to use our Kifaru Reserve enclosure to explain the dangers that face black rhino to the 500,000 people who visit us every year. We’re also raising money for Save the Rhino’s Dog Squad project, which funds the training of dogs to help the rangers who protect black rhino in the wild. You can read more about we do for conservation and the breeding programmes we belong to.

Meet our crash

Manyara

Manyara was born on 15 August 1998. She joined us from Chester Zoo in October 2015.

Nkosi

Nkosi is our breeding male. He was born on 22 January 2011. He joined us from Port Lympne Reserve in Kent in October 2015.

Dakima

Dakima is our breeding female. She was born on the 07 March 2013 and joined us from Chester Zoo in May 2017.

If you love rhinos you can adopt a rhino with us, the perfect gift for yourself or for someone special.

Daily rhino talk

Once a day, our rhino keepers will tell you all about the crash in the daily rhino talk. This is your chance to ask questions about our rhino, and get answers from the people who know them best.

The rhino house is also home to our pancake tortoises. As their name suggests, they are much flatter than the tortoises you might be used to. And there are rainbow skink, which are as colourful as they sound. Learn more about black rhino, including fun facts.